For that reason, I have chosen to NOT use the word hate here which I do not feel entirely comfortable with and have decided to replace it with dislike instead.

5 Things I Dislike About Linux

That said, please keep in mind that the opinions in this article are entirely mine and are based on my personal experience, which may or may not be similar to other people’s.

In addition, I am aware that when these so-called dislikes are considered in the light of experience, they become the actual strengths of Linux. However, these facts often discourage new users as they make the transition.

As before, feel free to comment and expand on these or any other points you see fit to mention.

Dislike #1: A steep learning curve for those coming from Windows

If you have been using Microsoft Windows for the good part of your life, you will need to get used to, and understand, concepts such as repositories, dependencies, packages, and package managers before being able to install new software into your computer.

It won’t be long until you learn that you will seldom be able to install a program just by pointing and clicking an executable file. If you don’t have access to the Internet for some reason, installing a desired tool may then become a burdensome task.

Dislike #2: Some difficulty to learn on your own

Closely related with #1 is the fact that learning Linux on your own may seem at least at first a daunting challenge. While there are thousands of tutorials and great books out there, for a new user it can be confusing to pick on his / her own one to start with.

Additionally, there are countless discussion forums (example: linuxsay.com) where experienced users provide the best help they can offer for free (as a hobby), which sometimes unfortunately is not guaranteed to be totally reliable, or to match the level of experience or knowledge of the new user.

This fact, along with the broad availability of several distribution families and derivatives, makes it necessary to rely on a paid third party to guide you in your first steps in the world of Linux and to learn the differences and similarities between those families.

Dislike #3: Migration from old systems / software to new ones

Once you have taken the decision to start using Linux whether at home or at the office, on a personal or enterprise level you will have to migrate old systems to new ones and use replacement software for programs you’ve known and used for years.

This often leads to conflicts, especially if you’re faced with the decision to choose between several programs of the same type (i.e. text processors, relational database management systems, graphic suites, to name a few examples) and do not have expert guidance and training readily available.

Having too much options to choose from can lead to mistakes in software implementations unless tutored by respectable experienced users or training firms.

Dislike #4: Less driver support from hardware manufacturers

No one can deny the fact that Linux has come a LONG way since it was first made available more than 20 years ago. With more and more device drivers being built into the kernel with each stable release, and more and more companies supporting the research and development of compatible drivers for Linux, you are not likely to run into many devices that cannot function properly in Linux, but it’s still a possibility.

And if your personal computing needs or business require a specific device for which there is no available support for Linux, you will still get stuck with Windows or whatever operating system the drivers of such device were targeted for.

While you can still repeat to yourself, “Closed source software is evil“, it’s a fact that it exists and sometimes unfortunately we are bound mostly by business needs to use it.

Dislike #5: The power of Linux is still mainly on the servers

I could say the main reason I was attracted to Linux a few years ago was the perspective of bringing an old computer back to life and giving it some use. After going through and spending some time dealing with dislikes #1 and #2, I was SO happy after having set up a home file – print – web server using a computer with a 566 MHz Celeron processor, a 10 GB IDE hard drive, and only 256 MB of RAM running Debian Squeeze.

I was very pleasantly surprised when I realized that even under heavy use loads, htop tool showed that barely half of the system resources were being utilized.

You may be well asking yourself, why bring this up if I’m talking about dislikes here? The answer is simple. I still have to see a decent Linux desktop distribution running on a relatively old system. Of course I am not expecting to find one that will run on a machine with the characteristics mentioned above, but I haven’t found a nice looking, customizable desktop on a machine with less than 1 GB and if it works, it will be as slow as a slug.

I would like to emphasize the wording here: when I say “I haven’t found“, I am NOT saying, “IT DOESN’T EXIST“. Maybe someday I will find a decent Linux desktop distribution that I can use on a old laptop that I have in my room gathering dust. If that day comes, I will be the first one to cross out this dislike and replace it with a big thumbs up.

Summary

In this article I’ve tried to put into words the areas where Linux can still use some improvement. I am a happy Linux user and am thankful for the outstanding community that surrounds the operating system, its components and features. I repeat what I said at the beginning of this article – these apparent disadvantages may actually become strengths when viewed from the proper perspective or will soon be.

Until then, let’s keep supporting each other as we learn and help Linux grow and spread. Feel free to leave your comments or questions using the form below – we look forward to hearing from you!

Gabriel Cánepa is a GNU/Linux sysadmin and web developer from Villa Mercedes, San Luis, Argentina. He works for a worldwide leading consumer product company and takes great pleasure in using FOSS tools to increase productivity in all areas of his daily work.

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23 Responses

I felt confused by this writing. The reason why GNU/Linux is so great today is precisely it’s friendliness. Repository system is far easier to learn than to train intuition which bit of crap is ok to install. Learning vim and basic configuration skills, plus some man-jidsu, is far easier than learning every hidden important feature of any guified server, and then learn some more of network of obsure changes created by pressing something seamingly not related to the description. It’s hell to administer, even as a workstation. Furthermore, I acn change any parameter of any computer on any Un*x os (except OS X) within seconds. That’s easiness.
I think that there are two “easy” words confused. It’s quite easy to learn an advanced operation of UN*X. It is easy to administer UN*X. It’s easy for Windows to work like windows, but it’s a difficult task on UN*X. Does it make it difficult?
The parameters of the commenter’s machines are perfectly sufficient for Linux. They are not sufficient for some heavy DEs. I don’t expect my Toyotaa Corolla to go over 90 MPH neither.
Who cares how popular Linux is on desktop? The less people expect Linux to be Windows, the better direction it will take. By the way, total amount of devices supported by Linux kernel is greater than windows.

I agree wholeheartedly with #5. Even on a relatively new machine with 4G RAM, Debian Jessie, and MATE, I still sometimes experience weird lags and pauses. I have tried several desktop environments (XFCE, LXDE, MATE, Cinnamon) and they all lack the polish to make them really shine. I still find myself turning to my Windoze (8.1) machine when I really need to actually get something done, because… it just works.

I have seen and/or met more Linux fans who are LinTards or fanbois than Windows. Too much attitude and a superiority complex.
Seems as if Linus Torvalds has personally learnt programming from them !!

I would rather stick to the world of real humans using Windows than LinTards and subject myself to the mental torture of working alongside LinTards who think they have higher intelligence or knowledge than me because they know more Linux than me.. pathetic !

I really hate when someone is so narrow minded that recurs to insults to prove his point.
Anyway, I’ll post here what I’ve posted before about this subject (my point of view):
I’m tired of the “new” Windows editions (or ‘mafia’).
I understand everyone’s feelings for Linux and for Windows… I have my opinions on both too but…
I think we’re forgetting 2 things:
Windows is mainly “a business” (that’s why we can’t make some things with it, as cloning)! – not good for us (lovers of FOSS)!
Linux is mainly volunteer work (read different opinions and tastes) to reach a perfect OS! – impossible task!
So, what have we?
On one hand we have an “universal” SO which has many problems (that generate money: anti virus, technical assistance, PC manufacturers that want to profit from the sale of the OS too, etc.) but has the approval of every HW manufacturer with drivers, guides, etc. and every gadget comes with a Windows SW, so we’re forced to use it, whether we like it or not.
On the other hand we have an unfinished OS that doesn’t crash or fail and seems to be virus proof, but lacks the “user friendliness” and easiness of operation. The core is wonderful!!! A marvelous piece of the best software there is.
I like the command line (I used to work with MS-DOS) but 90% of the people that work with a PC don’t!
It’s an excellent OS to be behind a POS SW.
It’s an excellent OS to be controlling a server and feeding web pages, or managing databases, or whatever that doesn’t get in touch with people.
It’s an excellent OS to be inside the computers of ISS.
It’s an excellent OS to be behind the curtains!
… but the environment (when there is one) is made by a manufacturer of the gadget with one purpose!
Why? Why is Linux failing on desktops? (the statistics say it!)
Because of the environment. There are so many flavors that everyone gets confused… and they’re so different that most people think they almost need to start learning everything from the beginning.
And then, there’s the compatibility: my Vaio’s bluetooth is rarely recognized for an example (except for Zorin).
And my wireless pen must be reconfigured every time there’s a ditro-upgrade, so I have to make a long wire LAN connection to get to the repository.
Now, you ask me if I hate Linux and I answer:
No, I love Linux! It’s so steady, so dependable, so unbreakable when is well configured! … but to get there… ufff! (I’m sweating)
So, when is Linux the best?
When it’s compiled by someone (not me) who really understands what he’s doing! and does it to his taste! and does it with his best configuration!… that’s when Linux is perfect… for that guy.
And when we’re talking about a HW manufacturer that is going to use an OS inside the gadget: what are they going to use?
Linux! … Because it’s free, and they can trim it for that product they’re building. And they give it an environment of their own, built for THAT product. Then, we have another perfect Linux.
That’s why Android gained such boom…. it’s soooo user friendly! (and has only one distro)
Different from many of Linux adepts I don’t like to have hundreds of distros to choose from (I don’t have time nor resources to do it).
Instead of having so many different Linux programmer “religions”, they should all be together with one single direction (or maybe a dozen).
(Just for the record: I have a few PCs with Linux and a few with Windows (I have to))